Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Editorial Reviews
Customer Reviews
First of all, what was the goal of the series? It was meant as a respectful homage to the 60's Batman series, combined with the sexy fighting females so common in Corman's films. The bat became a scorpion, the man became a woman. The tongue-in-cheek humour and camp nature of Batman were to be retained.
As a crime-fighting icon, Black Scorpion is an immediate success. While the 60's needed a male hero, our 21st Century is better fitted with a powerful female to bring law and order. Michelle Lintel proves to be an adequate replacement to Joan Severance, who played Black Scorpion in the previous films. Her self-confident entrances with corny jokes are the equal of Batman at his best. The colourful villains are made even better by their inherant lack of credibility. This is escapism at its best, not reality! The references to Batman are strengthened by casting Adam West as Breathtaker and Frank Gorshin as Clockwise. Other elements used as sub-plots to the series are the incompetent police force, the corrupt politicians, and the budding love affair between Black Scorpion's alter-ego and a police detective.
However, the series has weaknesses that need to be addressed. Despite the large budget, the car chase scenes are constantly re-used, which I find grating. Gangster Prankster's character is based so closely on the Joker that Corman can be accused of plagiarism. But the greatest weakness is that the comic elements are overdone. It's one thing that the police are incapable of dealing with super-villians -- that's why Black Scorpion is needed -- but it's another to portray the police as layabouts who throw baseballs about in the station instead of trying to solve crimes. Scott Valentine is a credible detective, but Shane Powers and Steven Kravitz are totally out of place. The running humour between the scientific genius (B.T.) and his scatty girlfriend (Enya Flack) is so silly that it just isn't funny. How could a man like that love a woman like that?
Overall, the series is a success, and the DVD box set is good value for money. It's a crime that until now Black Scorpion has rarely been aired and still remains unknown. If Roger Corman has any money left, he should make a second, improved series of Black Scorpion, toning down the sillier humour. The series has the potential to become a classic, but based on the evidence of the first series, it isn't quite there yet.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Look for Similar Items by Category
Look for Similar Items by Subject
|
